Overstimulating Bumper Magnet

Bought this magnet back in March 2024 from an ad on IG and absolutely loved it. It has stayed on very well through car washes and even a hit and run I experienced earlier this week lol. Definitely recommend getting these cute bumper magnets.

The item arrived quickly and exceeded my expectations. Great product for the price!

I don't love bumper Stickers because I'm indecisive, however, bumper MAGNETS?! FANTASTIC! I love my bumper magnets. They are high quality and stay stuck, but can be easily detached whenever.

I wanted to love this item. I really did. But the magnet edges stood up and away from the car and it made it too obvious that it wasn’t a sticker, but a magnet.
I ended up giving it to a friend (who planned to put the magnet on her file cabinet at work) and reordering the same thing, but as a sticker, since I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of paying for return shipping and exchanging it for the sticker.
The bumper sticker is perfect, and gets 5 stars from me, but the magnet needs a little work.

I was hesitant to buy this magnet because of the word “buddy”. I feel like calling someone you don’t know “buddy” is almost always in an aggressive or nasty way. I see that several of the Tender Ghost magnets and stickers use the word “buddy", so I guess it’s in some way part of the brand story or verbiage the company likes to use.

I conceded that the kindness of the sentiment would come across as sincere because of the flowers and lovely graphics — and for the most part I think it does — so I bought the magnet. I’ve actually seen someone behind me take a picture of my magnet! But I’m always little worried that someone, maybe someone who is really really hurting or even considering self harm, could take it the wrong way and feel worse.

The other day when my husband asked me if my magnet was sarcastic, specifically because of the word “buddy”. My own husband, who knows my passion for mental health support better than anyone, questioned if the magnet on my car was a sarcastic message! My heart sank.

I still have the magnet up because the message is so important to me, but I do think about it almost every day and think about taking it off almost every day too. In typing this I’m realizing that I’m giving a magnet too much of my mental energy, but I would never want someone to take the message the wrong way and feel as a result feel worse about themselves.

I think everything about the magnet is perfect, save “buddy.” Please consider remaking this exact design without that last word — and let me know if you do :)

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk